English, Canadian bishops say situation not good in Holy Land

Published: 2008-01-15

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- English and Canadian bishops visiting the Holy Land said they see possibilities for change in light of recent peace initiatives, but Palestinians and Israelis still are not in a good situation. "It is a very delicate moment. There is this possibility of things happening while at the same time we are aware that on the ground there are some very serious problems; we see the security wall and the settlements," said Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool, vice president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Archbishop Kelly was a participant in the ninth annual meeting of the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land, a Catholic group, Jan. 11-16. Archbishop V. James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, Manitoba, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the difficulty lies in Israel's reluctance to reduce the buildup of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory. "That is not a gesture of good faith," he said, adding that as a first-time participant in the conference he was "very surprised at the control of movement" the Israelis had on the life of Palestinians.

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